RIM confirms BlackBerry Storm 2 already in the works

It’s not like this announcement should come as much of a surprise to anyone, but Research in Motion co-chief Jim Balsillie today confirmed that the company is working on a successor to the BlackBerry Storm. While not willing to enter into specifics, the executive said that a new touch screen device is part of their focus on pushing further into the “very large and untapped consumer market.” He also said that more than half of the company’s 25 million subscribers are now in the “non-corporate” category.

Balsillie noted that the Storm was a huge success in terms of sales and adoption – recent figures seem to support those claims. Despite this, the Storm indeed had a bumpy launch with mixed reviews from the tech world and numerous customer complaints about buggy software and system failures. Exactly what the company has in store for its successor remains unknown, though previous rumors suggest it will address two of the main gripes users had with the original device: it will include Wi-Fi connectivity and come with a revamped screen to make typing easier. As for a launch date, September has been mentioned but RIM has yet to comment on any of this.